Palin Strikes Back at William Shatner

In July, William Shatner appeared on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, doing a poetry “interpretation” of Sarah Palin’s farewell speech as Governor of Alaska. Shatner’s interpretation was mildly humorous, although some Palin fans took it as an affront to her and yet another media attack (I personally did not find it particularly offensive, but I also didn’t find it as hilarious as some have made it out to be. Video below:

This past Friday, Shatner was back on Conan to interpret segments of Sarah Palin’s book, Going Rogue. Yet after he read a few short sentences, Sarah Palin came out and took over, doing her own poetry “interpretation” of Shatner’s own autobiography, using Shatner’s beatnik style. The funny thing is that her take on Shatner was dead-on, and funny to watch. The audience ate it up, and Palin and Shatner walked off stage arm-in-arm.

Besides being funny, it was a good move for Palin. Like it or not, entertainment TV influences a certain portion of the electorate. The fact that Palin was both at-ease on camera and able to perform a brief skit as well as any Hollywood actor will play well with the audience of the tonight show. People like their politicians to be likable, and Palin is likable. Her ease on camera will do her well if she decides to run for higher office, and she should not be underestimated by her opponents. Palin is a political force to be reckoned with.